Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay believes that there is an unexpected group of individuals, that he is among, who also receive unfair prejudice from police officers: Rich white billionaires.
The Indianapolis Colts boss has built a reputation by not being your ordinary NFL owner. Be it his well-known displays of his love for rock music memorabilia or being unafraid to take very public stances on issues related to his team or the league, there are few franchise owners like him.
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Irsay has delivered a great deal of headline fodder since taking over for his father Robert as the figurehead of the Colts organization. Including an unfortunate incident in 2014 when he was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. The 64-year-old pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor at the time and was hit with a six-game suspension and fined $500,000 by the league for violating the Personal Conduct Policy.
That incident was one of the topics of conversation during a recent in-depth interview for the long-running HBO series “Real Sports.” The Colts owner has been outspoken about what he believed to be unfair treatment at the time, yet he still decided to quickly plead guilty to the offense. When asked why he did not put up a fight in court, Irsay said his guilty plea was made “just to get it over with.”
Indianapolis Colts record (2023): 5-5
However, he still feels the arrest was wrong and that he was the victim of a clear prejudice that may baffle many people.
“I am prejudiced against because I’m a rich, white billionaire,” Irsay said during the Tuesday interview (h/t ESPN). “If I’m just the average guy down the block, they’re not pulling me in, of course not … I don’t care what it sounds like. It’s the truth. … I could give a damn what people think how anything sounds or sounds like. The truth is the truth and I know the truth.”
After being stopped by police, authorities found various prescription drugs in Irsay’s vehicle along with more than $29,000 in cash. He was then booked after failing a sobriety test, and a toxicology report following the arrest showed he had the painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone, as well as alprazolam in his system at the time of his arrest.
The Indianapolis Colts owner claims the sobriety tests he underwent were flawed because he was asked to physically prove he was not under the influence despite still recovering from recent hip surgery.
“The arrest was wrong,” he said. “I had just had hip surgery and had been in the car for 45 minutes. And what — they asked me to walk the line? Are you kidding me? I can barely walk at all.”
Irsay has been open about his long battle with addiction and alcoholism and it was a core element of the interview with the sports series.